


black tulips

by wowsheshot



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: AU, Angst, Canonical Character Death, F/F, Hanahaki Disease, Hurt No Comfort, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:35:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27068728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wowsheshot/pseuds/wowsheshot
Summary: just like that, the butterflies in her stomach turned into flowers. black tulips. and they were inside of her lungs, to be exact.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 54





	black tulips

**Author's Note:**

> aka catra convinces herself adora doesn’t love her back and develops hanahaki disease. this is set in the past, during their time at the horde, and is an au for obvious reasons.

Catra wasn’t entirely sure when it all started, when her days started becoming nothing more than a sad repetitive routine. There was only one thing that kept her going, made her think life was worth living, and it held a name: Adora. The blonde filled every single one of Catra’s otherwise miserable days, and she wasn’t sure where she would be now if it wasn’t for her. Dead, perhaps. She could never do it without her, after all.

There was something else Catra wasn’t sure of, when did all those annoying butterflies start taking habitual residence in her stomach? When had her cheeks started flushing red so often? When had her heart decided it must start racing like it did? When did her pupils start dilating the way they countinously did? When did she catch feelings for her best friend?

Her best friend.

Was she ever even going to be anything more than that? Oh, but Catra knew what the answer to that was. There was no way Adora would feel that way towards her, and it wrecked her. Just like that, the butterflies in her stomach turned into flowers.

It was after training, the first time she coughed up petals. The feeling of the dry pieces coming out of her throat was terrifying, but she convinced herself it must have been a one time thing. Besides, if she tried telling anyone, they would think she was crazy. Would that include Adora? No, she couldn’t let her believe she was a liar. She’s rather /die/ than let that happen.

Besides, it only happened once.

For a few weeks, around four maybe, that was true. Then, it happened again, when she was in her room alone. And then again, a week earlier than last time, and again, only two weeks earlier, until it became every week.

Eventually, every single day.

She got used to rushing to the bathroom when she felt that familiar feeling coming up her throat. What she never got used to was the overbearing pain that came with coughing the petals, and she could swear they became more and more each time. But as the pain grew, so did her feelings for Adora and the hopelessness that came with knowing the blonde would never feel the way she did towards her. It made her heart shatter, and she wasn’t sure if she would be able to get the pieces together ever again.

And so, there she was. Locked up in the now familiar bathroom, witnessing an even more familiar scene as she sobbed her heart out. She felt it coming, the coughing fit, and the hiccups that came with the tears falling from her cheeks and on the sink made it even harder to breathe than usual. Soon, a strangled sound escaped her lips and the overbearing pain finally came. Perhaps, it was a good thing. That same pain was the only thing that made her feel alive at this point, Adora only having become an heartbreaking reminder she wasn’t meant to be loved. She never had been and she never will be. It was a matter of fact, for as much as it hurt.

Black petals soon came out of her mouth, piling up inside of the pure white sink and only wetting themselves with their owner’s tears and...

Blood?

Catra’s eyes widened, and panic suddenly washed over her. Turns out, her desperate efforts to breathe in only made it worse, more petals coming up her throat. Stuck. They were stuck. She tried choking them out, only droplets of blood coming out and staining the sink and floor. Each sob and cough only made her situation worse, but she couldn’t help it. When her knees gave up on her and she fell on the floor, she wasn’t quite sure. Her body fell limp, and Catra felt too weak to even try to get up.

Still, the loud thud must’ve alerted somebody as she heard the door suddenly open up. Apparently, she hadn’t locked it like she thought she had. Her ears started ringing and making out sounds became harder, but she was sure somebody was calling out her name. Catra wasn’t even sure if she was even making any effort at breathing at this point, but if she was then she was making a terrible job as her vision started blurring out. She felt somebody grab her from the waist and lift her up, and Catra slowly looked up at her saviour.

Adora.

She looked panicked, and she was surely saying something. Yelling, perhaps. Catra wasn't sure, she wasn’t listening. She /couldn’t/ listen, the ringing in her ears being the only thing she could hear. Still, a smile rose on her blood stained lips as she felt her entire life flash in front of her eyes. With all the effort she could manage, she finally managed to speak, to tell the blonde what had actually killed her. It wasn’t the black tulips growing inside of her lungs, no. What killed her was something much bigger, and so much worse than that.

“I love you.”


End file.
